Bloodied Eyes
by Witticism
Summary: A random meeting. A mistaken identity. Are these really as innocent as they seem? [Officially been abandoned. Want to adopt it? E-mail me.]
1. Silent Life

Hey! Welcome to my first .hack fic. I didn't know Bear's name, so I christened him Sakamoto Nobu. I think, though, that Tsukasa's real name is Shouji An, so I'll use that. Also, this is set after .hack//SIGN, after Sora's woken up from his coma. 

**

Dedicated to Moonlight's Spell, Crystal17, and Valefor. Because they're all kick-ass Sora writers.

**

No.

He would not cry. He would not scream in pain. He would not even whimper.

The sharp glass cut into his back, but he was too tired and heart-breakingly sore to move. His eyes flickered closed for a second, exhaustion threatening to plunge him into darkness. It would have been a welcome relief. 

Another kick.

Too late for the last resolution, then. He might even have to break the last one too. That's how it certainly looked from the ten year old's point of view.

'How smart are you *now*, huh?' sneered a voice from above him. The boy flat on the floor forced himself to look up into his tormentor's eyes.

He didn't say anything, though. Because to answer would certainly be an invite for more pain, and because he wasn't sure if he could speak, anymore. Or if anything he said would be intelligible through the blood trickling down his mouth.

'See? Smarty-pants-Sora ain't got an answer this time 'round!' jeered another voice. 

The boy that was Sora merely stared at him, trying not to let another pathetic whimper escape his betraying mouth. 

A third youth reached down and hauled the pale, skinny boy up, pinning him by his shirt collar against the wall.

'See if we can break your nose, huh, genius?' he sneered, curling his knuckles into a rather vicious fist. Sora thought of pointing out to him that, considering they were only ten, he'd probably only fracture it.

However, a measure of common sense informed him this would *not* be a good idea. That and the fact that, fractured or broken, this would be extremely sore either way.

That was it. So much for pride. Sora's fingers closed around the bully's in a desperate scrabbling attempt to pull them off his collar. 

Another whimper, this time sounding a good deal more terrified, escaped his throat. The taller, more solidly built boy laughed and gestured at the scared boy to his friends.

'Hah! Look at him! Weak little git.' 

Sora's eyes darted from boy to boy, as one of them leant forward and gave him a hard punch on the shoulder.

'Pl-please,' he managed to stutter out. 'Leave me alone, *please*.'

Such weakness. Intolerable in others, excruciating in himself. He tried to beat the words back into his throat, but they spilled forth in a flooding stream of betraying consonants and vowels.

'Please, Sansuke, I'll do your homework… I'll do whatever you want! Please, just leave me alone!' he tried.

'Oh, really? You know what? I think this will be more fun-'

'Hey!'

A tall brown haired man stood in the narrow entrance to the alleyway. 

'C'mon! Let's go!' Sansuke shouted, letting Sora go and running off with his two friends down the alley.

'Hey! You get back here!' the man shouted, moving rather swiftly to where Sora sat crumpled on the ground, breathing heavily.

'No… Leave them go,' he managed to stutter out, between gasps of air.

'Why? They should be punished for this, you know, there's no excuse for bullying. Besides, they'll only come after you again.'

'They're… They won't be caught… They're too good. Just leave it,' Sora said, wiping blood from his mouth with his sleeve

'Are you okay, kid?' The man asked.

'F… Fine,' the ten year old said, spitting out another mouthful of blood onto the ground.

'You don't look it,' the man said. 

It was true. This kid was in a very bad state; certainly worse than the man had seen in a long time. Blood streamed freely from cuts along his legs, his face was scratched and bruised, green-black hair pasted to his forehead, crimson eyes still wide and dilated with fear.

'You'd better come back to my house. I can help you get fixed up, and you can call someone to pick you up.'

'No. I'm fine.'

It was useless, anyway. His parents were both a work, and both would be until about eight, later if one decided to work overtime, as happened occasionally. Besides, what was this man inferring? That he couldn't look after himself?

'It's only about five minutes from here. I could help you clean some of those cuts. They look pretty dirty.'

Sora could not help but agree as he rummaged in his school bag, pulling out a copy and promptly tearing a couple of pages out of a blank copy that looked like it was specially reserved for that purpose, judging by the few blood stains on it.

The man could not help marvelling at the rapidity and speed the boy tended to himself, wiping cuts and sticking them up as best he could. Some of them looked horrible, with the hem of his shorts stuck to one. 

The man had seen the scars of those kind of wounds before, on An's arms. 

'Yes?' the boy asked, his crimson eyes regarding the man narrowly, searching his face. 'Why are you staring? I'm fine.'

The man suddenly felt a flash of sorrow for this strange boy, who seemed to deny any help whatsoever.

'Are you sure?'

'I have to be back. Or else I'll be scolded,' the boy lied.

The man, who was also known as Bear in another place, felt a suddenly flash of recognition.

'Look at you. You're really badly cut up. You needn't stay more than five seconds. I can just help you clear some dirt out of those cuts – that one up by your temple looks nasty.'

Sora seemed to sway for a second. His eyes narrowed again as he looked at the man. He seemed to find it hard to grasp that anyone would want to help him.

'C'mon, kid. You can even just go on the computer or something – just let me help you,' Bear coaxed.

The boy twitched obviously at the mention of the computer.

'Uh… I don't know,' he said uncertainly.

'It'll be okay, don't worry,' Bear added. 'You can talk to my daughter, if you want.'

'Well… okay…' Sora said hesitantly. The he immediately cursed himself for agreeing. His lapses were not common, but everyone has a break-point, and if you're a beaten up, bloodied ten year old not used to adult concern and a fatherly man comes along and asks if you're all right…

Besides, the mention of a girl still had a certain pull for him – girls were generally nice to him. Except when his katars were around their neck, but even then they never ceased to amuse, running the gamut from shrieking to cursing to crying.

Bear stood up and pulled the heavily bleeding boy up with him, startling Sora from his thoughts. 

Again, Bear had a flash of déjà vu. The boy's form – thin and lanky, with legs that seemed slightly too long for him – seemed to trigger a flash of recognition.

'Have I seen you before somewhere?'

'You might have. I won an award for recognition among talented youth awhile ago…'

'Really?' Bear asked. A tinge of pride crept into Sora's voice.

'Uh-huh. I was even up against a sixteen year old.'

'And you beat him? Well done!' Bear said, feeling the need to encourage this strange boy for some reason.

'Well… yeah…' Bear could have sworn that there was a faint colour rising in this boy's face – though it might just have been the blood. 'But… why do you care? It's none of your business,' Sora added.

'It's still great for you,' Bear said. 'Are you sure you don't need any help?'

'I'm fine, okay?' he snapped, wiping a trail of blood from his mouth.

'Yes, yes, sorry,' the man said hastily, not wanting to give the ten year old cause to go away. Strange as this boy was, Bear felt sorry for him – and he was not one to send a bleeding, beaten kid away.

There was silence for a few seconds. Sora privately wondered why this man didn't just go. He wouldn't have gone with him, not normally. But he was sick of resisting. Resisting those boys was a bad move, look at what had happened. Maybe this was a nice adult, who'd pay some attention to him. He cursed himself mentally for telling this man about his academic achievements. Now this guy would just like him for that. If at all.

Bear, on the other hand, was worrying about this boy. He seemed like An, just a little – shying away from any kind of affection. Still, he had just been rather savagely attacked. Maybe he was just feeling a little wary.

'Here,' Bear said. 'We're here.'

Sora looked up, fighting the impulse to just leave this guy. Maybe he was just some weirdo out to find kids. There were some sickos around, nowadays, and he didn't like the look of the man's haircut. Very suspicious. No one sane would have that kind of hair.

'An. An, would you let me up?' the man spoke into an intercom.

'Sure, Nobu. Hang on a sec.'

Soon, they were standing in a rather roomy apartment, with An facing them. A tall girl with a smiling, strangely familiar face, short brown hair and a shy manner, who regarded Sora curiously.

'Are you okay?' she asked.

'Never better. Fine. Couldn't complain. Wouldn't want to,' Sora said, still taking in the apartment.

'Very funny. I'll go get some tissues, shall I, Nobu?' the girl asked, heading into the bathroom and pulling out a roll of paper. She then handed it to Sora. 

'You're probably going to need to clean them all off,' she said, while Bear fetched some disinfectant. 'How did that happen, anyway? Who are you?'

'I…' Sora decided to tell her what had happened, to distract her from his name. 'I was beaten up. By… uh, by five, no, six guys from my school! Really big ones,' he added, just in case she still wasn't impressed. 'I still managed to hurt two of 'em.'

'Really,' the girl said, smiling to herself.

'Yes, really,' Sora said, annoyed. 

'Here,' Bear said, setting down a bottle of iodine in front of him. 'I guess you want to do it yourself?'

Sora merely picked the bottle up and headed for the bathroom.

'Strange kid,' An said. 'He was beaten up?'

'Yeah. Three other boys-'

'Six!' 

'… Sorry, *six* boys,' Bear said, winking at An. He leant in closer and whispered, 

'Was there something strange about him to you?'

'I don't know… It felt like I knew him from somewhere,' An said.

'I think there's something unusual about him, though. Like… he's not used to being looked after… You saw the looks he was giving us, like he was trying to let us know that he didn't want our help or something…'

'I know. Definitely something a bit strange.'

'Just like you?' Bear asked. 'You think there's something awry with his family?'

'I don't know… I think he's used to being ignored or something… 'Cause he wasn't really trying to… I don't know, avoid us or anything, he just didn't seem to want any help.'

'I don't think it's very normal for a ten year old to be that independent, though,' Bear said, as Sora came out of the bathroom, carrying a handful of toilet paper smeared red. His other hand, with long pale typist's fingers, was stuck to a cut on his forehead. 

'Okay there, kid?' Bear asked.

'I'm not a kid,' Sora countered. 'I need a plaster for this one, it won't stop bleeding. The others are fine, though. Only little.'

'Only little? You're covered in them!'

'I said I'm fine. Where's your plaster?'

Soon Sora's face was adorned with sticking plaster and he sat at the kitchen counter, picking at his fingernails, nursing a can of soda and looking at the two. He had relaxed slightly, venturing to offer a couple of words every now and then in the general conversation. 

'Have I seen you before?' he asked suddenly, looking narrowly at An.

'I don't think so… Maybe…' An said, racking her brains. Suddenly there was a loud beep from a room.

'An, did you leave the computer on?' Bear asked.

'Yeah… Sorry, Nobu, I was playing The World and I didn't get enough time to shut it off.'

'And you're okay with that? Playing?'

'No, not really… But it's really the only way to talk with Mimiru and Crim, 'cause they live really far away. Plus, Subaru likes to use her legs in The World,' An said, fiddling with her soda.

'Are you okay?' Bear asked the ten year old.

Sora had suddenly stiffened, looking even more wary, crimson eyes darting from one person to the next.

'Yes… Look at the time,' he said hastily, gesturing at his watch vaguely. 'I have to go… Mama'll be expecting me soon. Goodbye.'

He got up quickly, heading for the door. Just as he was about to go out, Bear recalled something.

'You told me your parents were working!'

Sora bent over, picked up his bag and walked out, leaning his head back in.

'They are.'

'So… Why are you going?'

'Because…' Sora swallowed, seeming to make up his mind.

'Tsukasa-kun… Let's be friends,' he said softly, fleeing from the room.

An gasped, as her mind suddenly placed the person, using this clue. It was the eyes… In The World your eyes could betray you. The same bloodied eyes.

'Sora?'


	2. Before Dawn

o.0 Shameful confession time. I have only seen two episodes of SIGN, and they were the end episodes, too. And I wasn't really paying much attention to the last episode, because I never knew it was the last (You can imagine my reaction when I found out it was.) 

So, I don't really know how the characters should act. I have looked it up on the net, though, so I think I have a handle on how the characters should act. But there's little-to-no information on Crim, or Subaru, so I'm really kind of screwed when it comes to them. And Ginkan won't be in this story, because I can't find ANY information on him whatsoever, so I really could not write him, unless you want a horribly warped Ginkan. Sorry to all his fans.

The upshot of this ramblingnosity is: If the characters are all OOC, don't flame me, just tell me how I can change them to make them more in character. Arigatou!

And, to add more to this over-long A/N, this was originally a one shot, but I came up with a plot for it (woo hoo). I was at a Radiohead concert, though, so it's a weird plot. It officially means, though, that this is an AU! You'll have to find out where, 'cause I'm not telling.

Ooh, and by the way, Bear is now Sakuma Ryo, compliments of the spiffylicious lovely Julian Sidhe. 

**

'You mean… That was Sora?' Crim asked, a wild smirk pulling at his lips. He looked as though he wanted to giggle.

'You mean Sora is a ten year old? A ten year old who stalks women?' Mimiru burst out. 'Oh, that's priceless!' 

She collapsed into laughter, with Crim threatening to follow her.

'He spent ages stalking *me*,' said BT irritably. 'The least he could have done was be in his twenties and insanely attractive. Now I like him even less.'

'Aw, BT, don't worry, I'm sure one day you'll be stalked by some odd movie star who happens to wander in,' Mimiru teased, gasping for air.

'That's not what's important,' An said. There was a rumble in the distance, and she jumped, spinning around and nervously looking for the source of the noise.

'Relax, An,' Subaru said, laying a pale hand on her friend's shoulder. 'It's okay.'

An sighed. 'Sorry, it's just making me kind of nervy being here.'

'That would explain why he's never here anymore, then,' Crim said, after winning his fight to subdue the giggle fit. 'A ten year old put into a coma… Well, since he's ten, it's no wonder he acted so stupid and immature.'

'He did help us, though,' Subaru pointed out. 'You say he's bullied?' she added, looking at Bear.

'I found him in this alleyway being attacked by three other boys,' Bear said. 'There was something kind of odd about him, right from the start… He seemed not to want any kind of help, or even contact. I felt sorry for him. He looked kind of lonely.'

'Well, no wonder he's lonely!' BT said. 'A ten year old after ME!'

'BT, calm down. That makes no sense, and besides, he went after Mimiru, too, remember,' Bear said.

'But Mimiru's still a child, you know!'

'I am not!'

 'I think we should bring him back into The World,' An said, over the din of the two females arguing.

'Yes. An and I discussed this, I think it's a good idea,' Bear added.

'You are a child!'

'Well, I bet you're really an old woman who's like, fifty, or something!'

'How dare you! Besides, you might just be another ten year old! You're immature enough!'

'Why do you think it's a good idea?' Crim interrupted, replying to Bear. His hands were locked around Mimiru's waist, mainly to stop the enraged heavy blade scratching out BT's hair.

'Well… He's bullied, and he's lonely. You should have seen him… I barely recognized him,' Bear said. 'When you think of him, what do you think of?'

'An annoying, permanently happy, sing-songy, extroverted twin blade with a horrible malicious side,' BT answered promptly, batting away Mimiru's hands.

'He wasn't that bad,' An said. 

'He never killed you.'

'He did stop me from being killed by Morgana, though. But, he wasn't at all like that. He was all shy and quiet and closed up and wary. I think he needs The World. I think we were the closest he had to friends.'

'Friends?' Crim queried, raising an eyebrow.

'Gerroff, Crim!' Mimiru shrieked. 'I am *not* a child!'

An shifted a little, smiling at her friend's antics and tapping her fingers on her staff, surveying her friends. She still used Tsukasa's character profile. It was a kind of a testimony, proof of how such different people could all band together, of how the game could be stopped, of how people really did care. That couldn't just be thrown away.

'Well… I don't know,' Subaru said, also grinning at Mimiru. She turned and regarded An with serious eyes. 'He might just cause trouble again. I mean, admittedly, he did save us, which was very brave of him, but look at what happened. I don't think he'd even want to come back. When you were trapped in the game, you could at least interact with others. But Sora was trapped in a staff. You don't know what he might have had to deal with.'

'But, Subaru… We can at least try. I think we owe him this. He deserves it.'

'I agree,' came a voice. Bear, who had been listening to An and Subaru's conversation, turned to see Crim.

'You do?'

'Yes. Sora may have been all of what BT said – double on the annoying part – but he saved An, Aura and Subaru. I'm not his biggest fan, I'm not even a fan, but I think he deserves a second chance. It's the only honorable thing to do.'

'Aw! You're so nice!' Mimiru squealed, pulling Crim down into a glomp and causing him to lose twenty hp. 'I agree. He might not have been our friend, he might have been the most godawful and irritating ten year old to walk the face of the earth, but it's honorable, and it's what we should do!'

Bear turned to Subaru, who sighed. 'Against my better judgment, I agree. I can't see why, but I do want to help him.'

'Fine,' BT said. 'Fine, fine, I'll go along with you. But don't blame me when he kills us all or something!'

'Ginkan will be very put out about this,' Subaru commented, her armor-wearing friend popping into her mind.

'Especially when he finds out that a ten year old nicknamed him 'Bright-Eyes',' BT added.

**

'He goes to Yamaki Elementary, then,' An said, smiling at Bear.

'Yes. Remember the crest on his uniform?' Bear asked, leaning back from the terminal. Dressed in a creased white shirt and slacks, he looked rather rumpled, as he generally did in the morning.

'We'll have to figure out a way to talk to him, though,' An said. She unconsciously pulled at her school uniform, adjusting the skirt so it was a little lower.

'Well, I think you're the best person to do it.'

'Me? Why?'

'Well, because he's not likely to open up to me. Mimiru doesn't like him, and besides, she's not exactly tactful. BT *really* does not like the kid, and she doesn't like children, anyway. Crim, you know, doesn't like bringing the game into real life, and, like the others, absolutely hates him. Ginkan has the flu, and he'd really rather eat dog food than try and help an ten year old who called him 'Bright Eyes', as BT pointed out. Subaru… I don't know… she's still not really friendly towards him, and I don't blame her. Besides, you saw Sora around her. I think he's intimidated by her, a bit. That leaves you. He likes you, anyway, remember? He wanted to be your friend all along.'

'What a strange kid,' An commented. 'He really has the oddest way of going about making friends.'

'I don't think he wanted them, not really. It was you he wanted to get to know all along. What makes him strange is the aversion he has to people.'

'Yeah… But how are we going to talk to him?'

'I think I have an idea. It shouldn't be too hard to locate him, should it? Since we know his first name and the school he goes to. And people around his area would know of him, since he one of the youngest coma victims.'

'But that still doesn't explain how we can talk to him…' An said.

'That bit, I thought was a stroke of genius. His parents are probably quite rich, right?'

'Probably. Not many ten year olds have that much technology.'

'And the amount of time he spent on, that would probably mean that his parents aren't around a lot, right?'

'Yeah, but…'

**

'That's a great idea!' The woman cooed. 

'I don't know… the last one was a bit traumatized, remember?'

'Yes, but he's alone so much, right?'

An shifted on the doorstep. She was dressed in a pair of casual-but-neat slacks and a button up shirt. Hopefully respectable enough. Mature, that was the look she was aiming for. Independent. Smart. And, from the sound of it, looking cunning would come in handy, too.

'Good point. Well, I think that this would be a good idea. Thank you for offering.'

An smiled. 'I'm sure Sora will be glad to see me.'

'Yes… Tell me, how do your know our boy?' The woman asked, smiling.

'Well… I… I was at the same camp as he was!'

'Really?' The man's face broke into a smile, too. An was relieved, since if Sora had *not* gone to camp, she would have been in quite a bit of trouble.

'Yes. I was an, ah, counselor there,' An said. 'You know, volunteering. I love children.'

Good God, she'd have to bite her tongue off, since it must be black and charred by now.

'Well, that's a great attribute for a babysitter,' the man said.

'Well, I'm sure you have a lot of homework to do, huh?' the woman said, smiling. She was probably quite nosy, An thought. And Sora seemed quite a private person, despite all of his bounciness. Very strange.

'Yes, Mrs. Uchiha. Is there any time you want me to start?'

'Well… I have a business meeting tomorrow with Tachikawa Corp.,' Sora's mother said.

'And I'm playing golf with an American CEO, so we'll probably need you for tomorrow,' the man added. 'I'll email you with the details tonight.'

He pulled a key out of his pocket and opened his door.

'Give my regards to Sakuma-san.'

'Sora? Sora, honey, we're home!' Mrs. Uchiha called up the stairs, deftly stepping in front of her husband and into the house.

What a house, An thought. Bear was right. These are rich people.

'Well, An, I'll see you tomorrow, then,' Sora's father said, stepping inside. 'Thank you again for coming around and offering to babysit our boy.'

**

'A stroke of luck indeed,' Bear said.

'Hmph. You're not the one who has to babysit him,' An said, finishing her rice.

'Oh, and if I had asked to babysit, that would have worked,' Bear smiled.

'How did you know them anyway?'

'Well, the Uchihas are famous among the business world, you know. Quite rich. I worked for a while making a brochure for Mr. Uchiha's company, before starting Annwen, but I never would have guessed they were his parents, though.'

'Oh. His mother looked quite rich, too.'

'Yes… I think she's the chairman of another company.'

'I think they'll need me for tomorrow.'

'I feel so sorry for you,' Bear said, looking not-at-all sorry. 'Babysitting him. You'll go crazy and kill him.'

'I beg your pardon, I wasn't the one who threw him off a cliff.'

'I think Crim is quite regretting that now, actually.'

'I'm regretting this even more.'

'Chin up, An,' Bear laughed. 'After all, it's not like he's a Player Killer in real life, remember?'

'Wouldn't surprise me.'

**

'You're *what?*'

The green haired boy paused and stared at his mother.

'A babysitter, honey. Great news. And such a nice girl, too. Now sit down and finish your dinner,' the woman said.

'I don't need a babysitter,' Sora said, spitting out the word babysitter like it had a bad taste. 'I'm not a *baby*'

'Of course you're not,' his father said absently. 'But it's not good for you to be alone all the time.'

What would you know about that? thought Sora bitterly. You weren't trapped in a staff. That's all there was there. Loneliness.

'I don't mind being alone, really I don't,' he settled for saying, sitting back down. Besides, it was already quite obvious he was fighting a losing battle.

'I know you'll like her, Sora,' his mother added. 'Like I said, a very nice girl. Name of… An, wasn't it?' she looked at his father.

Sora promptly dropped his bowl.

'Shouji An, that was it,' his father said. 'Pick that up.'

Sora felt like he would be sick. 'W-What about her family?' he blurted out.

'What about them?' his father replied.

'I mean… eh… I think I've heard of her… isn't her father a man called Ryo?' Sora asked, reaching beneath the table and picking up his bowl while praying to whatever divine force above that he was wrong.

'Yes. Ryo Sakuma. He worked on a brochure for me a while ago. Nice man.'

'Terrible haircut, though,' his mother added.

'He adopted her, I think. She was one of the people in a coma because of that video game,' his father said. His mother elbowed her husband and quickly shushed him. Her policy was never to mention That Game in the house anymore.

'I… don't feel well… Can I be excused?' Sora asked, standing up again. Puppy eyes. Usually he was supposed to eat everything in front of him, because his mother worried about him. It wasn't his fault he was skinny.

'Sora… Aren't you hungry?' his mother said, right on cue.

Big puppy eyes. Scarily large puppy eyes. Even if you had eyes the color of blood, it worked.

'No, mama.'

'Well…'

Dammit, thought Sora. I'm being cute. How can you resist?

'Okay then. If you're not hungry.'

Sora quickly cleared off his bowls and ran up the stairs.

Once in his room, he sat down on the bed. It was a plain, normal looking room, except for the desk, where a computer was perched. Obviously the pride of the room.

Sora could barely suppress a shudder, looking at it. He still couldn't bring himself to take it out of his room, though, anymore than he could delete his copy of The World.

Even though all it stood for was disappointment. After all, if you're going to be trapped in a staff for God-knows-how-long, you could at least be rescued by the person you want to be rescued by, right? But Tsukasa – An, he corrected himself – had not bothered to come and find him. He was probably the last person to find out that An was a girl, too, or that Bear had adopted her. In fact, they were probably all *glad* that he had been attacked by Skeith.

Bitterness twisted his brow as he remembered that staff. That damned staff. The feeling of being alone, the feeling of not even being, per se. The knowledge that you were not so much in the dark as you were the dark. Tainted. And that it had taken so long for  anyone to find him… The knowledge that no one did care was hard to take. Even if you spent a long time ensuring that no one would care about you, someone should at least have noticed. But An hadn't. They hadn't come to find him. They hadn't cared. Not even Kite. Kite had not been looking for him; no one had. No one at all.

Sora sighed and rolled over onto his stomach. Best not to think about that. After all, in his dreams he had time enough to consider it.

**

Sigh. That one didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to, but hopefully it ain't too bad. Please review! Flames will be used to toast sausages over, á la Gir Invader Zim style. Tell me whether I should have left it as a one shot or if I should continue.

Crystal17: *Gets up* Here's another chapter, O great one! Aack! Thankies ^^

Valefor: There is indeedy more to come! Warm and fuzzies all around. 

Yagami: Do you have a Sora shrine?! URL me, quick! I love his theme ^^. It's a sign you're obsessed with Sora, apparently, if you actually like the banjo. I do, now. Hee hee.

Moonlight'sSpell: Not as much as your story does! I agree… Sora is too cute, but torture makes him even more adorable. I think the project .hack people knew that too o.0

Julian Sidhe: Thanks! Also, thanks for the tipoff on Bear's real name.


	3. Interlude

Okay! Domo arigato and welcome to the third chapter! I'm still doing Crimbo tests, though, so this may be crappy (nothing strange there, ne?). Again, I have seen only two episodes of SIGN, and it was late and I didn't pay attention to them much, so I really have no clue how the characters should act. Please help correct me if I'm OOC!

Erm, also, I think that there's something about Mimiru and Sora going on some dungeon thing during the series? Can someone fill me in on that?

Shameless plug: *points frantically* Read Moonlight'sSpell, Crystal17, Valefor and the newest person I discovered, quitelacking! Do it! I command you!

And, to ramble even more, I mention the net-slum here. I really have no faffing clue what the net-slum actually looks like, except that Helba hangs out with a load of old deleted data there, or so I think.

**

Disclaimer (I think I forgot this last time): Hey! You there! No, not him. Not her with the glasses. Yes. You. I don't won .hack! God, how I wish, though… it would all be about Sora. And it would be a better show for it (if that's possible).

**

So tell me, who can I respect?  
I feel the leash around my neck  
As I find out there's shame  
In the game, in the game

Little know it all, little know it all

-Iggy Pop, Little Know It All 

**

The long way home. Sora had come to think of it as a state of mind, rather than just an inefficient way of making his way back to his house. Rather pathetically, it was now the only real form of escapism he had. Encompassing several deliberate turns the wrong way and about fifteen minutes of making his way through alleyways that smelt suspiciously like gherkin relish and shampoo, no one ever expected him to come this way. Exactly the reason he took it.

Sora wandered along, bag stuck on his back, hands jammed in his pockets, thinking about life in the universe and the rather more important problem of An.

Both his worst and best wish were coming true.

Sora was in a dilemma. It was most likely that An did not want to be his friend. Considering the whole weak, ten year old nerd thing. And that she was around fourteen or fifteen. What self respecting teenager would want to be friends with him? He knew if he had a choice, he wouldn't be his friend. He'd probably beat himself up, too. He might even make sense occasionally. This last thought, however, seemed to be slim-to-nil.

Anyway. Since An probably did not want to be his friend (and he was considering dropping the 'probably') it meant his pride was in for a severe crushing. The one thing that Sora could not stand.

Unfortunately, it was also the one thing she *had* done.

Leaving him to rot in that staff. Sora wished that he had just been in a normal coma – sleeping a deep dreamless sleep – like others, instead of decaying inside his own mind. By the time Kite had found him, it had almost been too late. For a while, Sora did not think he could ever face the world again. Wide, open places scared the crap out of him – but dark, quiet places were just as bad.

But An had not come for him. She did not care. No one had. 

The thoughts ran through his head. Always returning to that one simple statement. That damn statement.

On the other hand, An had never denied his offer of friendship. She had never fought him like Crim. She had never tried to backstab him, and she had never got inordinately annoyed at him like Mimiru. Maybe there was hope. 

He wished he had never told her who he was. Even more so, he wished that he had stuck around a little longer. To see her expression.

At this point, Sora would have hated anyone who made him doubt himself like this. But there was just something about An  that denied his hatred. He wasn't sure what it was. He didn't think he wanted to know.

**

'He should be coming back any time soon,' Sora's mother said, pulling on a coat. Outside, her husband beeped the horn. 

'I'll be back in about three hours, okay? See you then. Thanks again.'

An nodded and nervously sat back on the couch. Bear had said they were rich. He was certainly not wrong. 

More than anything, her stomach churned at the thought of meeting him. An wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't the kind of happy churning that happened occasionally with Subaru – An knew her name was Mariko but could not help calling her that – but a more nervy kind. With Subaru, it was an expectant happiness. She knew the cause. Subaru, was, after all, an important person in her life, and her first real friend who would listen ((A/N: Or so I think. Again, I don't know, but I got that impression that Tsukasa opened up to Subaru before Mimiru)).

She pulled at her skirt and smoothed down her shirt for what seemed like the fiftieth time. She frowned. It seemed strange that Sora's mother had just idly said that he should be back. He was only ten. His mother should know where he was – Bear always knew where she was, be it shopping with Mimiru and Subaru, or hanging out at the library.

Then again, maybe he made it a habit to take longer than expected. It wouldn't surprise her. Sora struck her as the kind of person who'd just off a cliff, just to prove that he could, or would.

She wondered how to approach the subject of The World with him. Delicately, she knew.  But still. 'Hey, Sora – how 'bout going to The World? Don't worry – you'll be okay!' seemed a pretty flimsy thing to say, especially since she didn't believe this guarantee herself.

Seeing a lanky figure walk pensively up the drive, she stood up and plastered a smile across her face. If anything, the boy looked as nervous as she felt, and a good deal more embarrassed. If anything, they were the two players playing behind the biggest masks. She was a boy in The World. He was around sixteen there.

A real smile began to creep onto her face. Maybe, if they had a bond in common, this would be a little easier.

Click. The door opened.

**

'I still think this is a bad idea, you know,' BT said, scraping shapes in the dirt with her staff.

'I know. But the least we could do is humor An, you know. She hasn't had an easy time of it,' Crim replied.

'It's still very strange thinking of him as a ten year old,' she added, a scowl darkening her face, like it normally did whenever she mentioned him.

'I can't believe I threw a ten year old off a cliff,' Crim said, rubbing his forehead. 'I think you're right. The least he could have done was be older. I wouldn't feel so bad, then.'

'You agree with me for different reasons. I just wish he was incredibly handsome, like I said.'

'It's no use someone being really handsome, or pretty, if they have a really bad personality.'

'I beg to differ.'

'Not so. I wouldn't talk to you if you had a bad personality.'

'Do you think I'm pretty, then?'

Crim's face was sprinkled with a little pink.

'Excuse me?'

He was, however, saved by the interruption of someone else.

'Are you Crim? Of the Crimson Lightning?'

The person was a woman. Dressed in a pair of thigh high boots, a pair of baggy, hip hugging trousers that flared out in a way slightly reminiscent of Sora's and a halterneck top with straps covering the arms, she looked more than a little threatening. This wasn't helped by the weapons on her arms – obviously a twin blade, she had a range of spikes along her knuckles, like large and extremely vicious brass knuckles. Long gloves adorned her arms, while grey eyes glinted dangerously from behind a blood red fringe. Covering most of her garb was a long, black cloak.

'Who are you?' Crim asked, feline eyes narrowed.

'I asked you whether you were Crim. I have no intention of answering questioned,' she said.

BT's eyes were also narrowed, but she had a somewhat puzzled expression on.

'I am,' Crim deadpanned.

'The one who hangs around with his little team?' she sneered, icy eyes trained on him.

'Little team?'

'Oh, please, you're quite famous, you know. A couple of heavy blades and normal blades, wavemasters, a long arm, a heavy axe  and a twinblade, correct?'

'How exactly do you know…?'

'I thought I made myself clear. No qu-'

'No questions, yes, but I never said you could question me,' Crim said, his knuckles tightening on his spear.

'I wouldn't advise it,' the woman said nonchalantly.

How did she know…? He opened his mouth to speak.

'How do you know us? Answer me and we'll tell you,' BT interrupted. 

'I already said, you're famous. Illegal characters in a team rarely go unnoticed. Two members of your party in comas, right.'

It was not a question.

'What do you want us to answer?' BT asked, not bothering to confirm the woman's statement.

'I need their names.'

'I wouldn't tell you.'

'I could make you.'

'Don't threaten her,' Crim interrupted. 'Don't you even think about it.'

A sense of uneasiness grew in his stomach. This was an obviously powerful person, and there was something not quite right about her… Something strange.

'Oh, please,' the woman said. 'I already know them. I merely need confirmation. Lady Subaru. Crim of the Crimson Lightning. Ginkan, the Silver Knight. Maha, the illegal cat. Tsukasa, the illegal player. Mimiru. Bear. BT. Sora, the Player Killer.'

'That's… right…' BT said, eyes even more narrowed.

'Now, that wasn't so painful, was it?' the woman smirked. 'Goodbye, now.'

And she gated out.

There was a silence.

'What the hell was that?' BT asked, after several minutes of said silence.

'I don't know,' Crim said, thinking furiously.

'Was it just me… Or did she seem… familiar?'

'I know what you mean. There was something not right about her. Something…'

'I know. I've never seen her before, but…'

Something clicked.

'BT – did you notice anything unusual about her?'

'I just said I did,' the wavemaster said irritably.

'No… She was all blurry at the edges! Did you notice that?' Crim said, puzzled.

'Now that you mention it, she was kind of fuzzy…'

'I think we need to tell the others.'

**

A new field. 

Slightly reminiscent of the net slum, the field was dark. The ground was dark and looked obviously infertile, withered plants blackened and rubbery from lack of virtual sun. She pulled a wasted plant from the ground, crushing it in her hand. The unfortunate foliage fell to dust and floated to the ground.

Unlike children, if plants are ignored they will die. Children usually find a way to survive. They are more like weeds. They will not flourish, but they will find a way. And, like weeds, these children are generally despised, making few friends along the pathetic framework of their lives.

The woman stood, looking around her field again with satisfaction. This was not enterable, she was sure of that. 

No pesky weeds coming in to save the day.

Toxic looking clouds of purple swirled along the floor, evocative of dry ice, with tinges of green showing here and there among the pungent purple.

In the furthest corner from the only possible point of entry, stood something that would have chilled An's blood. Had she been able to get here. That brat girl, the woman reminded herself, that brat-girl would not be able to. Not this time. Not on her watch. Not even that blasted hacker could get through this.

The item in question? The woman smiled to herself, walking to her creation. 

A large black bed. A simple thing. Symbolic of so many things to so many different people. A place of happiness for some, a place to hide for others.

And for some, where the nightmare may just begin.

**

Thanks:

Spanner: I'm honoured! This is the first time I've ever written a vaguely long fic, so I'll try to keep it up.

Valefor: I agree! I went to sleep at night thinking of that scene and smiling… Well, not really, but it would be very easy! Oh, and congrats on finishing .hack//GRANDEUR, I loved every second of it.

Moonlight'sSpell: Yes, I love the puppy-eyes. I think all the Sora fans do! And I know… I barely know anything about the series. Such is life. I even wrote a Digimon fanfic before I'd seen ANY of it

Crystal (^^): But of course! We should form a Sora guild or something. Can you draw? Draw for me, dammit!!!


	4. A Bit of Happiness

I'm so happy… I found screenshots from .hack//UNSION! They come from Aura's Awakening, h t t p double backslash] aura [dot] altimitworld [dot] com. There's the most insanely cute Sora moment… definitely Sora/Tsukasa fodder, anyway. They're all dancing at the end ^^ Sora looks like he's doing something akin to a shimmy with Mistral… Yes.

Okay, this isn't one of my best, but it definitely is better than the last chapter which definitely sucked major cupcakes. Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate to everyone who reads this and sorry for the delay!

**

Dedicated to the Name-Gamers. ^^

**

'Sora?'

An stood, bowing a little. Sora returned the gesture. The uneasiness in the air was almost palpable. Sora pulled uncomfortably at his uniform which hung in folds around his small frame, highlighting his almost painfully thin frame. An noticed that he still had the faint marks of a scratch on his face and his legs were still bruised and sore looking. She pulled at her shirt and tucked hair out of her face. Sora was staring at her with that measured, composed look, that he seemed to try very hard to conceal from them in The World. His red eyes were narrowed at her, his face twisted slightly with the beginnings of a scowl.

'A-An?' the boy said, after a few more seconds of silence.

'I… Sora…'

An wished she could just come out and say it. The ten year old's face was constricted with tension, his brow creased and the slightly maniacal glint she had know and enjoyed (or endured, for the most part) was all but quenched.

'I'll just go upstairs,' Sora mumbled, after a few seconds of silence. 'I'll be in my room.'

'But, I-'

'I have a lot of homework,' Sora interrupted, his voice rising a little towards the end of his sentence. 'I'll be a while.'

An only watched as Sora turned and fled up the stairs, bag banging at his skinny legs. Maybe that was why he was so acrobatic, she pondered. Because he liked to get away from people, because it was an easy escape from people who could not match his feats of bounciness. Because it made it easier to flee. Or maybe because it was the nearest he could get to flying. An never knew with the enigmatic boy. She wondered if she would ever find out with him. 

If she didn't try this sentence, she probably would never find out.

'Sora… Sora, let's be friends…' she said beneath her breath, staring at where the boy had been.

**

'Who was that?' Bear asked, looking at the blue haired Long Arm.

'I don't know. She was a very strange woman. Definitely a bit evil looking.'

'She might have just liked that Queen of the Dark look,' Bear pointed out. 'Like Helba.'

'Helba…' Crim moved his hand in a waving gesture, indicating that Helba was definitely a bit of a strange cookie. 'Well, Helba is Helba. You know. But this one… This woman was just very evil looking. I know, there is no such thing as evil, blah blah, but she's the kind of person you'd push little children away from.'

'Like Mimiru,' BT interrupted snippily. 'Besides, the weirdest bit – Crim, you forgot the whole blurring thing. This woman kept blurring at the edges, like she was fading away into the game.'

'You're right,' Bear said, feeling exceptionally relieved that Mimiru was not there to start a catfight. 'That's definitely a bit strange… Maybe I should tell An?'

'She might get a bit worried about it,' Crim said. 'I mean… something going wrong in The World… not exactly something she'd want to hear, right?'

'Good point. I still think I'd prefer to let her in on what's going on, though,' Bear said, fingers twitching on his blade.

'Speaking of which… I wonder how she's doing with the brat?'

'BT!'

'He *is* a brat, Bear.'

'But he's a neglected brat. It makes all the difference,' Crim added.

'How?'

'You're obliged by federal law to feel sorry for him now.'

**

'Sora?'

An had waited a couple of minutes to let the pint sized player killer calm down, before heading up the stairs.

'Sora, where are you?' she called. 'Don't ignore me!'

She noticed a room off to the right, with a small brass name plate entitled 'Sora' on it. Accurately, she deduced that this could indeed be Sora's room and headed towards it. 'Sora?' she called, rapping on the door. 'Sora, let me in!'

After several moments of knocking, it occurred to her that she could try to open the door by using the handle.

Wondering exactly why that had not come to mind before, she opened the door and stepped hesitantly into the boy's room. If you could call it a room. It looked like a bomb had gone off. There were only two neat area, as far as An could see; the ceiling and the desk where an extremely expensive looking computer was perched. An could see the wiring cascading down like spider legs to the plugs. Incredibly precarious, it looked like anyone who touched it would be fried immediately. Maybe that explained his disposition, An thought. 

Nothing. No one was there.

'Sora?' she said, panicking a little now. If his parents came home and found out that their darling son had done something like run away or jump out the window or…

Or jump out the window.

An looked at the window. It was carefully shut, but not locked. And right outside, there was a tree. A-ha.

An moved carefully over to the tree, among reams of clothes and other assorted junk (was that Pop Tart *moving*? This would scare Martha Stewart). Looking out, she saw the boy sitting beneath the tree, carefully avoiding a patch of dirt. Considering that his entire room was what one could accurately term a total tip, to be polite. There were a lot of different words that would have worked too but unfortunately the author has decided this must be PG fic. Maybe. Hopefully.

Crossing back to the door and avoiding the evil moving Pop Tart… okay, An didn't know it was evil, but God did it look so. Those pink sparkles. You never know with pink. As she was crossing the room, something caught at her legs and An tripped, crashing to the ground and muttered another thing that if repeated would increase the rating significantly.

His school bag. Sora had dumped his bag right in the middle of the room. Copies and books slid from it and one in particular was bent over and creased from An's knee.

'Oops,' An said, leaning over and picking up said copy. Reams and reams of small, messy handwriting covered the front part of the copy. An flicked through it, uninterested, noting the general absence of the stupid spelling mistakes children tended to make in it. She was about to stick it back in his already bursting bag, when something on the last page, a good half a copy away from the other items, caught her eye. She flicked back. 

Messy doodles, rife with the furry markings of paper that has been erased one too many times covered the page. An stared, interested. The boy was not what you'd call an artist, but he was able to draw, a little. And the doodle at the top, the largest, was one she would definitely recognize as none other than BT.

An smiled, debating whether to tell BT. On one hand, it might humor BT a little, raise her ego from the underground tunnel it had plummeted to after finding his true identity. On the other, it would embarrass Sora beyond all relief, probably. 

She'd keep his secret, then.

An looked among the drawings on the page. She could recognize herself in there, sporting a crooked looking staff and looking rather out of proportion, a small sketch of Subaru and a rushed looking Mimiru. Funnily enough, since the doodles were not exactly good, Sora had managed to capture their expressions rather well, or at least the ones that Sora was met with every day. Subaru looked rather annoyed but placid. Mimiru looked on the verge of having a spaz attack. BT looked annoyed and cold, and she looked closed and guarded. Bear, she noticed, was on the side of the page and was looking at her miniature self with a rather fatherly expression.

How strange. An never knew that Sora had seen Bear's fatherly side, let alone knew that Bear was at his most parental around her.

She closed the copy, folding over the bent pages as best she could, and pushed it back into his bag. She'd be dead meat, and with Sora that might not be an expression, if she were caught. 

Plus, it was not babysitterly to leave your charge sitting under a tree.  

**

Sora sat, knees hunched under his chin, fighting away tears that were definitely threatening to flow. He would not cry. He never cried. It was weak and stupid to cry. And he was ten, for God's sake. Ten was grown up. Ten year olds were not little kids.

Definitely not.

He watched the ground in front of him with bored eyes, trying to think of ways to avoid An for what seemed like the indeterminable future. So far, the only thing he could think of would be to lock himself in his room, but boredom and hunger were two factors that persuaded him from that response. Man could not live on computer games, though God knew he had tried.

The park was one of his favourite places to sit, when his parents had tried to pry him from his computer. He had never enjoyed being outside, but this was the place that he despised it the least. Sora smiled at the irony, that someone who disliked the outside world (or, as he had come to know it as, 'that room with the big ceiling that is sometimes blue and sometimes black with little lights') had access to one of Japan's rare parks, and countless kids who wanted to stay outside were stuck indoors.

Irony sucked major cupcakes.

There was a woman passing by him now, giving him strange looks. Sora lifted his head in an effort to look less despondent. Apparently it didn't work. The woman, a rather motherly looking type, was coming over. Sora made an attempt to look cheerful.

**

An, walking over to the door deep in thoughts, was suddenly interrupted by the shrill ring of a phone. Doubling back, it took her several minutes to locate the thing, before breathlessly slamming to her ear on what seemed like the last ring.

'An? Were you there?' came the worried voice of Sora's mother.

'Yes… Sorry… I was just up with Sora in his room,' she lied. Well, partially lied. 

'Oh, good. I hope he's okay. You're not interfering are you?'

'I beg your pardon?' 

'You see… I think I forgot to mention it… He's a rather private person, you see, and I don't think that he likes being disturbed much. Especially after that little incident, we don't want to be too interfering.'

An sighed. That would really explain a lot. How Sora seemed to be free to do generally whatever he wished. Even running away on the babysitter through his window…

'Ah. Yes. Well, we're having… uh… fun, yeah.'

'Good. Listen, I called to say that we're in a bit of a pickle here… I have to meet with my client afterwards later, and then I have a dinner date with a very important customer and my husband. I'm afraid we won't be back until very late, or early depending on your viewpoint. I was wondering…'

'Yes?' An was feeling a little panicked – having to stay with Sora in a house on her own? And she wouldn't be able to do her homework either.

'So… I called Ryo. He said that Sora would be able to stay with you… is that all right? He said it would be, but I wanted to make sure with you. He's coming for you soon.'

His mother's voice had a very worried edge to it.

'No… no… that will be fine, Mrs. Uchiha,' An said, relieved but at the same time even more worried. 

'Oh, thank you so much! Tell Sora to pack a bag and – no! I said to send that tomorrow! Don't… no!'

'Pardon?'

'Sorry, it's crazy here right now. Tell him to be good for you and I'll collect him tomorrow at around eleven am. Okay?'

'Sure.'

'Bye, An. Thank you again, and I'm really sor – Sell! Sell, not buy! Can't you understand me? I'm surrounded by-'

An put the phone down.

**

'Hey,' the woman said, looking down at him.

'Hey,' Sora said, not bothering to look up.

'You okay?'

'Pardon?'

'I said, are you okay?'

Sora looked up at the woman. She was pale, with a round face and blonde curls pulled back messily from her face and violet eyes.

Eyes narrowed. 'I'm perfectly fine, thank you. Why wouldn't I be?'

'Since you climbed out that window…'

Blast.

'That's where I live. I just had to… uh… go and get something, yeah.'

'Then why are you sitting down?'

Godammit, did he hate these bleeding heart women who though they needed to know everything just because he was smaller than them. Almost as bad as though jovial men who though everyone was their pal. A simple 'mind your business' would probably work here, but then again it was unlikely to deflect her.

'Because I don't have to be back for a while and… uh… yeah,' Sora said, realising that that was one of the most pathetic lies ever, if it could even be called a lie. 

'Are you sure?' the woman asked, persistent as ever.

'No, I'm not.'

Ooh, naughty boy with his sarcasm, even though it was about as good as his lie.

'Pardon?'

'Uh… I have to go now,' Sora said. 'Yeah… Bye.'

The ten year old leapt to his feet and ran to the door.

The woman shook her head and moved off, thinking on what a strange kid that was. 

'So he lives there…'

**

'Hey, S- Ow!' An fell on the ground as Sora crashed into her.

'What are you doing?' An asked, as Sora mumbled something extremely unsuitable for a ten year old.

'Don't say that!' she admonished. 

Sora bit back a reply, and instead stared at An with what looked like a rather beseeching stare.

'Oh… right… Sora… what I meant to say is… I'll be your friend,' she said, slightly hesitantly.

The red eyes narrowed again.

'Really.'

It wasn't a question.

'Yes, Sora. I really do.'

Sora's eyes narrowed again, even though that was seemingly impossible, scrutinizing the girl who was sitting on the floor rubbing her head. Then he moved over to her slightly.

'What the-'

An wrapped her arms around the shy, hesitant kid who had just hugged her.

After a couple of seconds of squeezing and general fuzzies, Sora moved away self consciously and straightened his school uniform.

'Oh… Sora, you have to come stay with us.'

'What?'

'Your mother called. They're going to be very late, so Ryo-' she noticed his blank stare. 'Bear said you could come and stay with us. Your parents know Bear, didn't you know that? His real name is Ryo Sakuma.'

'Uh… no… What about everyone else?'

There was real curiosity in his voice, the careful blankness receding slightly.

'Well… I don't know too much about BT or Crim, but I think BT was a model – that was good taste there – and Crim, I think is a business man or something of the sort. Mimiru and I are around the same age. I think she's actually coming over tomorrow, so you might be able to meet her, and Subaru is a bit older.'

An didn't mention how BT was retired or how Subaru, or rather Mariko, was confined to a wheelchair. Something that they might prefer that he didn't know.

'And Ginkan? He must be a bodyguard or something.'

'No… I'm actually not sure what he does.'

Ginkan would kill her if she told Sora he was a video-store clerk.

Sora sat for a while, processing this information.

'Do any of them know who I am?'

'Well… yeah, they do.'

'What?!'

'Uh… Ryo told them… yeah.' An grinned weakly. 'Sorry about that.'

Hang on. An opening in the conversation.

'So… do you ever think about going back? I know that they would like to meet you, they really would.'

Teeny little white lie.

'No.'

There was absolute resolution in the skinny kid's voice.

'Never?'

'An…'

'Yeah?'

'You should know how I feel. There's something about that place… I don't know. I don't like it, Tsukasa.'

An didn't comment on his use of name. She was mesmerized by something in his eyes… Subaru had once told her that it was easy to see her suffering, because she just had that look in her eyes. She didn't know what it was then. Now she did.

'You were trapped too, but you had the run of The World. I was stuck… By myself. All alone. And no one came for me for so long…' Sora gave her a reproachful look and An realized this comment was aimed at her.

'I'm so sorry, Sora. I wasn't able to get into The World for ages… I didn't know what had happened to you. No one did. It was only Kite and even he didn't know, he was looking for Orca and…'

Great going there, An. Open mouth, insert staff.

'I know,' Sora looked rather downcast. 'Even he wasn't looking for me. No one was. No one cared.'

'We did, Sora… we really did.'

'No, you didn't.'

An wondered what to do, feeling ashamed for not trying to find him. No wonder he had doubted her intentions so much… being trapped when your 'friends' did not come for you…

'Sora. Listen. I'm really sorry. I didn't know. If I had, I would have come for you. But we really need to get going. Ryo will be home soon.'

Sora stood up. 'Yes. I'll go and… I'll go and pack my bag. Can't be late, ne?'

An noticed, though he seemed to be rather reproachful, that he had cheered up considerably. Though he had seemed to be rebuking her, and An realized that he was probably the only ten year old who could successfully rebuke a teenager, it was surprising what friendship's effect could be. He even hummed.

Tonight, maybe. Maybe she could convince him then. It wouldn't be easy, but maybe now it would be possible.

**

o.0 What the hell was I on? I had a psychology essay to work on too… Meh. Such is the life of a fourteen year old. Still, this is the only non-OneShot I've ever done.

To mah lovely reviewers:

Crystal: I know, he's so beggaring hard to draw. I only have a half decent sketch done in my Geography book, and that was after a bloody long time trying. Still, I bet you're only being modest. Hope you like this chapter!

Valefor: Dontcha just love them mysterious kinds? o.0 they actually annoy me… but I'm glad you noticed ^^. Thanks for your comments on my analogy… my brat cousins were here and they were on my computer all the time, which is why it took so long to update… and that analogy is dedicated to them.

Taltos: Yup… my browser was being a total be-atch for a while. Urgh. I ahte it when that happens. That and when net services make you pay ^_~

Moonlight'sSpell: Thankies. I have no clue what-so-bloody-ever how Crimmy-kun acts… But I found a place where I can download it all, so hopefully I can get a better handle… And my first cliffie too!

Again, happy holidays, and thank you to everyone who reviewed my other fic… Too kind! *hands out plushies and cookies*


	5. And Now, For Something Entirely Differen...

A/N I'm so sorry for the delay! Just to let you know, this has no been abandoned, I just needed to take some   
time out because I d/led all the .hack//SIGN episodes. So now I actually know how they act! Yes!!! Anway,   
I'm working on the next chapter and it'll be up soon. Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed my fic(s) and   
special kudos to Moonlight'sSpell, who asked me to continue (and continued her splendifferous fic), and   
Tasogare Ookami Konyo, who made a rather wonderful debut with 'Named By Submission'. Anyway,   
thanks again and I hope to update soon ^^ Now on with the required story I need to post this, because stand-  
alone A/N's are now ebil, according to ff.net  
  
Sitting at a computer screen, a black haired, blue eyed girl was hunched over her computer screen, typing   
frantically and listening to AFI. She was obviously dorky, anaemic, and also up waaaaay past her bedtime.   
Suddenly, there was a smashing noise, which, through the miracle of plot holes, failed to wake anyone else   
up. She whirled around to see everyone's favourite player-killer sitting on her floor, looking confused.  
'Sora?' she asked, looking extremely happy. Maniacally so, one might say.  
'Who the hell are you? What's going on?' the ebil little dude replied, looking even more confused.  
'Uh… Never mind!' the girl replied. 'Oooh, I'm gonna have so much fun. You can stay here, and kill   
people I don't like, and play computer games!'  
She lunged forward and grabbed the startled Sora by a forelock, dragging him across the room and into the   
closet, when suddenly, *poof*! He vanished.  
'Damn,' the girl said. 'I hate it when plot holes are cleared up.' Then she went back to her laptop, thus   
finishing this crappy little story that was only there to accommodate an Author's Note she had written. 


	6. Hyperactive HeavyBlades Because Song Tit...

Aaaaaargh. Kill this chapter immediately. Please. It's not fair to inflict it on people. My only excuse is that I have some kind of block. 

Wheee. Count 'em. Four pages. *sob* I am so terribly pathetic, and I apologize to you all. Repeatedly. Sora plushies for everyone.

Bing.

A tear, reflecting the light as a prism might on  a sunny day, hit the grass. It was soon followed by another, and another. More and more came, soon accompanied by choking sounds of sorrow. Sinking to the ground, the source of the tears dropped the bouquet of flowers and sunk their head in their lap, eyes blurred, shaking desperately.

The sun reflected on their hair, showing the richness of the blonde strands covering her face. She buried her face in milk-white hands, sobs wracking her frame.

The deep green grass glimmered behind her, dancing in the same breeze ruffling the hair, betraying a mood of happiness that was so unfitting for this occasion, for this place, for this.

Rising out of the ground before the crying woman, a grey stone stood; old, dilapidated, and generally uncared for. A crack wound its way down one corner, a weed climbed its ragged way up another. There was no sign of anyone coming to visit, not even a vase of withered flowers. For her, that would have been a meager symbol that someone, at some point, had cared, but not even that had been granted. 

'It's not… it's just not *fair*!' the woman snapped, voice hoarse. 'I'm going to… I have to stop it.'

The gravestone, as one might expect, did not reply. The only sign of the woman's pain was a name, half obscured by grass, etched roughly onto it.

Morgana.

**

'Sora?'

Sora regarded her narrowly for a second, swinging his bag onto another shoulder that was barely wide enough to accommodate the strap. 'Yeah?'

'What was it like?' 

She wished there was a better way to phrase this. Subaru would have thought of some way of gently prying it out of the boy. Bear might have coaxed it out, Mimiru, with her sunny nature would have cajoled it out if she were so disposed. Hell, even Crim could have managed it better, even counting for his dislike of the boy.

But with the shrewd ten year old, it was a tricky business, asking this kind of stuff. Too gentle equated as too patronising with him, too tactful meant you thought he was not strong enough to handle the bare truth. In some way, An knew that he would have preferred a bald statement.

'What was what like?' the boy replied, a hint of curiousness in his languid tones.

An took a breath. 'The staff. What was it like? Were you… asleep? Or trapped, like me?'

Sora stared, for a few seconds, then laughed. A cold chilling laugh, the kind that echoes around the moon of a nightmare.

'You're the only one who's ever asked that. Everyone tiptoes around it. Like I'm some kind of kid who can't take anything, any mention. Isn't that funny? I spent so long trying to prove I wasn't a mere child and then this happens.'

There was silence for a few seconds. An was slightly shocked at the bitterness in his voice, but then again, this was the kid who had once said that being a bastard made him special. One does not expect the norm from a kid like that.

'It was horrible, frankly,' Sora said. 'The worst thing I have ever been through. I don't think you ever heard her last words to me. She said that she'd teach me there were worse things than death. I suppose it was some kind of sick irony for her.'

He sounded as though he were talking about a troublesome homework assignment, or an annoying classmate.

'Were you being tortured?' ventured An.

'Nope. But I'm sure you can imagine what was going on, huh?'

The conversation, it seemed, was closed. An did not want to ask what exactly had gone on, Sora seemed unwilling to discuss. A stalemate of sorts. They continued on in silence, traversing streets and passing apartments with a seeming mental block.

'Bear's apartment should be here soon.'

Sora merely stared at the ground, shrugging in recognition of her statement. The rest of the journey passed in silence.

**

'So, got any ideas?'

Crim put down his staff and smiled at the Wavemaster. 'Not a clue, my dear friend.'

'Not even one?' she asked, scowling. Although one might be forgiven for considering it a pout, as long as you didn't mention such a consideration to BT.

'No. I couldn't come up with any leads on her. She's as elusive as Helba, only some people ast least have heard of The Queen of Dark.'

'You could ask Subaru to look,' BT replied hesitantly, resisting the urge to stick 'the leader princess' in from of the Heavy Axe's name, although now most of her problems with Subaru were solved or at least not spoken of, especially as she now knew that the girl was more interested in An than Crim.

'Yeah… She doesn't have more power than I do, you know. Not now, anyway, and she wasn't even much more powerful to begin with.'

'Not powerful with a legion behind her. Yeah, yeah, yeah,' BT responded, looking out over the sunburnt landscape. Weird, spiky, digital fossils poked their misshapen heads from the ground, the sky glared above them, and the noticeable lack of foliage all contributed to an arid desert atmosphere.

'Have you gotten any news concerning ….*Sora*?' Crim asked, not quite able to suppress a shudder. 

'No… I think An's trying to deal with the brat.'

'Be nice.'

'Why? He killed me. Repeatedly,' BT said, and the scowl, or pout, seemed to surface again. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Crim.

'Yeah, but I think things have changed.'

'How so?'

Crim shrugged and settled himself against a bone. 'Well, cruel though it may sound, maybe that spell in Skeith's staff might have done him well. After all, he was really getting far too uppity.'

'Oooh. Naughty Crim.'

'What? I dislike him just as much as you do… I'm just less bitchy about it - ow! That thing is *pointy*!'

**

'Does he ever *say* anything?' Ryo hissed.

'Well… This is Sora we're talking about, remember?'

'Still.'

'It's just, he's Mr.-I-Can't-Be-Pinned-Down-Or-Forced-To-Give-A-Straight-Answer.'

'… I'm just going by Sora now, you know,'

An jumped roughly three feet in the air from the sofa and spun around.

'What's on?' Sora asked, gesturing at the TV and settling down, giving no indication that he cared about being talked about behind his back.

Ryo, meanwhile, was trying to keep a straight face. 

'Sora, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…' An said, getting up and sitting back down. When she saw Sora's expression of extreme non-caringness (or boredom, one might say, if one actually had a good handle on writing unlike the esteemed author)

'Yeah, yeah, yeah.'

**

'Sora?'

A sleep-clogged voice echoed through the apartment.

'Yeah?'

'What the f… What are you doing UP?'

'Relax, Bear… Ryo… Sakuma-san…' Sora's slanted eyes betrayed a slight sense of confusion.

'Relax? It's three am, what are you doing up?'

'Oh, yeah… About that…' Sora grinned and popped another few popcorn pieces. 'I couldn't sleep.'

'So your solution is to eat all the food in the house and watch movies?'

'Problem? Oh, nice movie collection too. Oldies, huh.'

'Yes, problem!' Bear snapped, being much less civil at 3:17 am on an early Saturday morning. 'Sora, you're going to be sick!'

Sora regarded the floor as he seemed to make a tally. 'I didn't eat that much, you know. Only… Four bowls of popcorn and a box of Pocky.'

'Only?'

'I'm actually still kind of hungry. You don't have half enough food here, you know.'

Bear was still unable to comprehend the situation. 

'Do you even KNOW what is wrong with the scenario here?'

Sora stared at him. 'Yeah, your popcorn sucks.'

'No, I mean… Normal kids don't watch old movies at three in the morning!'

'I bet An did,' Sora said, cool eyes still trained on the adult.

'That's none of your business, just get to bed!'

'Why?'

'Because…' Bear was quickly losing all patience with the annoyingly serene kid. 'Because I say so,' he finished rather lamely.

'Well, if that isn't a reason, I don't know what is. Good God, how can I fail to go now?'

'Shut up and go to bed right now. I'm not in the mood to be irked around, Sora.'

Said boy seemed to regard his choices for a few seconds, then reluctantly got up.

Bear stared. 

'You are SO cleaning this up tomorrow. Mimiru's coming over to spend the day with An. She'll think we live in a pig sty.'

'Okay, okay,' Sora muttered. Bear peered closely at the boy. It was fairly obvious at this point that Sora was a lot more tired than he'd been letting on. The boy was practically swaying on his feet. Dark rings circled his eyes, which were nearly shut.

'What are you doing?' Bear couldn't help asking again. 'I mean… You really can't see what's wrong here?'

'…I was allowed to do this at home.'

**

'This is one majorly funky place. I mean, bad, morning breath funky.'

A cool female voice echoed around the sucking blackness.

She crossed the place-that-was-not-the-net-slum slowly, the air of a cat in every predatory step. 

'So empty… Really, not pleasing…'

Behind the visor, the woman sniffed. Her pixellated self showed no hint of this.

'Soon, though… Ah, well. Time to visit the love birds… Hmm…'

That blue haired manslut is always with the blonde one, she mused. That's going to have to be remedied. She's too smart for her own good.

**

'Do you ever hang out anywhere else?' BT asked, rather rhetorically, gating into the digidesert that was Crim's calling card, so to speak.

'Easier to train here,' he said, sparing her a glance before picking up his jacket and slinging it back on his shoulders (much to the dismay of all the Crim-fangirls.) 'Less n00bs.'

'It makes you too easy to find, you know.'

'Why should that worry me?'

'Because the ever-so-amazing Crim of the Crimson Lightning isn't indestructable, you know,' BT said, leaning against a fossil.

'Nearly though.'

'You won how many fights against that ten year old? One? What a wonderful record.'

'And how many did you win, exactly?'

BT scowled. 'He didn't stalk you.'

'I should have been worried if he had, frankly.'

'…I should be worried right now.'

BT and Crim swung around to face the interfering voice.

It was her. The Twin Blade.

'What're you doing here?' BT snapped, resisting the urge to tack on something that would turn this into a NC-17 fic.

'What? I'm not welcome? I'm shocked… Shocked and appalled. My heart is broken.'

Crim bared his teeth unconsciously.

'I actually came 'round…' The flickering woman trailed off. 'Never mind.'

She immediately gated out.

BT and Crim looked at each other.

'Okay…' BT said. 'That was… Strange…'

**

'Meep.'

Mimiru stared around the apartment, eyes glowing.

'Did you just meep?'

'Yes, An. I meeped. And a mightily good meep it was too.'

'And the reason behind this… meepage?' An said, struggling to hid a smile.

'Well, you have the brat in your house! I want to see!' she sang, bouncing. 'I want to see, I want to poke, and most of all I want to get that little shi-'

'Mimiru.'

'That little… ehm… darling child back for all his stupid crap!' she said, folding her arms and frowning. 'Can you believe he was… ten? Nine?'

'Well, yeah, it was obvious actually. What're we doing today, anyway?' An asked, wondering if it involved one of the famous Mimiru-style shopping trips, which involved sugar, An becoming very churlish after roughly the fitieth shop and Subaru muttering about being hijacked.

'Well… There's the most adorable dress…' Mimiru said, her patented wheedling-face on. 'And I neeeed a neeeeeew one… Aaaaaaannnn…'

'Fine, fine,' An muttered. 

'Now, let me at him!'

'He's still asleep.'

'Dude, I wonder what he looks like, I mean, Ginkan and BT and Crim don't look a thing like their avatars. Okay, BT kind of does, and I didn't really get to see Ginkan's face in The World, but still.'

She was referring to a party that Bear had once thrown. They had decided that, after being through so much together, festivites were in order. Mimiru still wasn't over the face that Ginkan really WAS under sixty and that Crim had come all the way from Korea (albeit on a business trip). It was true love, she declared, that BT and Crim had come, and so, they'd have to get married immediately and have loads of children. Of course, she announced this in front of the two, causing both embarrassment to both parties and the severe threat of personal damage.

'And me,' An said. 'I don't look like Tsukasa at all, do I?'

'Of course not. Tsukasa's much more pretty. C'mon, if I can't annoy the little bugger can we go *shopping*? Like, now, and not later this century?'

'Fine, just let me get my jacket,' An said, surrendering and slouching towards her room.

A smile crept over the former Heavy Blade's face; that of a predatory cat. With exaggerated slyness, she slunk over to the living room, creeping behind the door and looking in slowly.

Sora was lying, fully dressed, on the sofa, obviously asleep, head hanging over the arm rest.

Kids, Mimiru reflected, didn't need much sleep. And there was the nagging fact that someone was needed to carry their bags…

She made her way over to the boy, hoping the noise of her footsteps wouldn't wake him. Because she owed herself this, at least. All the crap she had put up with. The immature fights. The death threats. The sneaking, the bouncing, the infuriating smirk… That bloody smirk… 

'HEY, SORA!!!!' she screamed in his ear.

Said boy's eyes opened, and he launched himself roughly fifteen feet into the air with a display that would have made his character jealous, before landing on the floor. His eyes had the wild look of a crack addict.

'Hiiiiiiiii, Soooooooo-rrrrrrraaaaa,' Mimiru said, leaning over him and leering. In the part of Sora's mind that wasn't sleep-clouded or now shakily recovering from his awakening, he noted that this expression was reminiscent of himself.

He stood up, ignoring the question, and brushed himself down.

Mimiru was annoyed. 

'Well? Aren't you going to say anything?' she demanded, after a few seconds of silence.

'An,' Sora called. 'I think one of your pet monkies is here.'

Oh, how terribly pathetic. What was it with him and sarcasm, lately? That good friend of his had flown the coop, seemingly.

'C'mon Sora!' Mimiru chirped, eyes glinting (rather maniacally, it seemed). 'You're coming with us!'

The grip on his arm was rather strong, and all Sora could do was nod mutely.

It was times like this, more than anything, that made him wish for The World again.


	7. Author's Note 2 Or, Mimiru and her Make...

Well, this is another author's note. Except that we can't do that any more so I'll include a little scene. Again. Dontcha just love them?

First off, I'm not going to give this up, don't worry (if anyone is). I have finals and so I've been studying for a while and I apologize for seemingly abandoning this. I also was banned from the computer (because I used it a bit too much, apparently I should log off before 4 am) so I wasn't really able to do much updating on anything.

Second, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! Taltos, Crystal17, Valefor, Tasogare Ookami Konyo, Moonlight'sSpell, you're all very much appreciated. And everyone else who reviewed, thank you a million times! I'm very much grateful.

A special word of thanks to Shinji Ikari3: Your review was exceedingly helpful. .hackINFECTION has just come out here in Ireland; it's still 60 Euro. As a result, I have nary a clue as to what goes on in the games and I'm very much in debt to your kind and thoughtful review. Thanks so much for taking the time.

And now, without further ado, I give you A Pointless Humiliating Scene ™!

Petrified was not the word. Terrified, asphyxiating with horror, paralysed with pure shock and altogether not feeling too great were all good descriptions.

Mimiru giggled, leant over and brushed some floppy green hair out of his face.

'He looks like a rabbit, doesn't he?' she grinned, taking hold of his chin and shaking his inert face back and forth. 'I mean, like the really scared ones you see in documentaries, or those gazelle about to be mauled and eaten and stuff by lions. Poor little Sora, are you scared?'

An stifled a laugh at the unfortunate boy.

'I,' he managed to spit at Mimiru after a few minutes of face-contorting, 'hate you so much it is inestimable.'

'Don't scrunch your face up like that, dear. It'll wreck the mascara.'

At this, An's face turned a rather unappealing shade of red. She looked like she was going to have a coronary. Sora rather hoped she would.

'Now hold still,' Mimiru said, digging in her make-up bag.

'What?' Sora coughed. 'Get away from me, you horrible girl!'

'You agreed to the mascara!'

'I never agreed to mascara! I never agreed to anything! You threatened me with putting make-up on my in my sleep and taking black-mail photos if I didn't let you test out your new mascara!'

'Well, yeah,' Mimiru said, in the tone of someone quite reasonable who was dealing with a troublesome toddler, 'but you have the kind of eyes that just scream out for eyeliner. They're all big slanted and pretty,' she continued, matter-of-fact, 'and you have the kind of eyelashes I'd kill for!'

'Well, gee, thanks. That just makes me feel much better!' he snarled, wanting desperately to wipe his eyes but fearing blackmail.

'So hold still. Do I have to get An to hold you down again?'

'God, no.' The memory of An's surprising headlock was still fresh in his mind. Surprising in how strong she was, or in just how willing she seemed to do it. Mimiru, he reasoned, must have taught her, although where she learnt and why An wanted to learn was something possibly more disturbing.

'Then don't talk for the next few minutes,' Mimiru said, leaning down with a large black pencil in her hand.

'Um, Mimiru, what's the point of this?' An ventured, fearing to break the concentration of the girl.

'Well, to try it out, of course,' Mimiru said, partially muffled by her tongue sticking out. 'See if it'll look good on me.'

Oh, God, Sora thought. I have a girl who can't draw a line without her tongue sticking out armed with something pointy near my eye.

'Done!' she proclaimed, bending back. 'Oh, Sora, you look so sweet! And girly. You'd make a really pretty girl, you know,' she added, tilting her head to the side. 'Well, once you get older.'

Sora bared his teeth at her.

'I don't see why you're doing this,' he said, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like a whine.

'Well, I needed to try it out! I just said that! Sheez!'

'But…' Sora began. An – obligingly snapping out of the giggling fit she'd been having for the what seemed to be the last hour – finished his sentence.

'Mimiru, his eyes aren't at all like yours… If it looks good on him it probably won't look the same on you.'

'Well, that's completely irrelevant!' the brown haired girl said. 'Now, hold still. I have this lovely sparkly pink eyeshadow…'


End file.
